![](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/p06-260108-316.jpg\")
<\/p>\n GAME PLAN:
\n Forty-one-year-old James, who missed 14 games this season to sciatica, said Doncic is the Laker\u2019s premier player and that the team should build around him <\/p>\n
LeBron James and Luka Doncic on Tuesday combined for 60 points as the Los Angeles Lakers went on a late scoring spree to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 111-103.<\/p>\n
The Lakers extended their winning streak to three games after James and Doncic scored 30 points apiece in the Big Easy to keep up the pressure on Western Conference leaders the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n
The Pelicans, who are bottom of the West with an 8-30 record, had threatened to spring an upset after opening up an 86-79 lead at the end of the third quarter, but James nailed a pair of three-pointers in a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter before Doncic added eight more points to see the Lakers home safely.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Photo: AP<\/p>\n
James, 41, finished with 30 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a block in a commanding all-round display. Doncic had 10 assists and two rebounds in his 30-point haul.<\/p>\n
Trey Murphy led the Pelicans scoring with a masterful 42-point performance in a losing effort. Zion Williamson (15 points) and Derik Queen (10) were the only two other Pelicans players to make double figures.<\/p>\n
It was the second time in three games that James had scored at least 30, having poured in 31 in a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday last week.<\/p>\n
Lakers coach J.J. Redick said he would necessarily expect that kind of production from James on a regular basis, but he does not want to put limits on the prolific, 23rd-year NBA superstar, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know LeBron. I know how much he puts into this. It\u2019s just recognizing, game to game, what he has,\u201d Redick said, comparing James to Hall of Fame MLB pitcher Greg Maddux during the final years of his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery night, he doesn\u2019t have his best stuff, but he has enough to win,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m his catcher and I\u2019ve got to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
James said he considers Doncic to be the Lakers\u2019 premier player now, and that it is up to him and the rest of his teammates \u201cto bend our game around him and figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
James said his goal after the victory in New Orleans was to get a good night\u2019s sleep, before deciding if he can play their next game, after he missed this season\u2019s first 14 games with sciatica.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping my body recovers. That\u2019s most important,\u201d James said. \u201cSee how I feel in the morning, try to get some more rest and see how I feel when I get up from my nap… We\u2019ll go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lakers remain in third place in the standings on 23-11, behind leaders Oklahoma City (30-7) and second-placed San Antonio, who fell to 25-11 after a nail-biting 106-105 loss to the Grizzlies.<\/p>\n
In other games on Tuesday, Anthony Edwards\u2019 26 points helped the Minnesota Timberwolves cruise to a 122-94 win over the Miami Heat, while Darius Garland\u2019s 29-point haul was the cornerstone of the Cleveland Cavaliers\u2019 120-116 defeat of the Indiana Pacers.<\/p>\n
The Washington Wizards outplayed the Orlando Magic 120-112 and the Dallas Mavericks survived the Sacramento Kings 100-98.<\/p>\n
Additional reporting by AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GAME PLAN: Forty-one-year-old James, who missed 14 games this season to sciatica, said Doncic is the Laker\u2019s premier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3796],"tags":[7,6,478,470,4073,4072,675,3974,3973],"class_list":{"0":"post-522873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-pelicans","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-pelicans","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanspelicans","14":"tag-pelicans","15":"tag-the-taipei-times","16":"tag-3973"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115854783968724371","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}